By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Tuesday’s meeting of the Cobourg Police Services Board opened with a call for Chair Adam Bureau to resign.
The call came from long-time board member Ron Kerr, who asked about the accuracy of a quote Bureau gave in an interview with the media, saying new Chief Chris Leather was viewed as a strong candidate both by the recruitment firm and the police board, and that the board had voted unanimously in favour of his selection.
Bureau said that the quote indeed reflected what he had said to Jones.
The vote had not been unanimous, Kerr insisted.
Bureau said he had made his statement in reference to a closed-session vote prior to the minutes of the special meeting being released.
“You have to realize there are people who did not support – with due respect – Chief Leather’s appointment, more than a few,” Kerr said.
“And by putting that out there, I have had people approaching me, who have known me for 50 years, knowing I always believe in doing the right thing.”
The closed-session reference bothered him, as Bureau would have been sharing information from a closed session. In fact, when people asked Kerr how he voted, he had refused to answer due to the confidentiality of that session.
“You going public opened the doors. I felt you did a real disservice, did not follow proper protocol and, in my mind, should be stepping down from the board,” Kerr stated.
Taking it as a motion for him to step down, Bureau called for a seconder. No one spoke up.
For the record, Bureau added, members Kerr and Dean Pepper voted no on the hiring, as reflected in the minutes.
